Chapter 17 – Dinner and a Show
The dinner table sat fully decorated ready to be used. Shiny white plates lay behind meticulously placed cutlery. Four candles stood in expectation lighting at the four corners of the table. Their long ghost white shafts rose majestically above the glorious green leaves of two plants at either end. The table was flanked by four red-cushioned chairs with another two chairs at the head and end. On a side table sat a colourful bushel of flowers. In the kitchen an engulfing delicious smell drifted out of the oven while several pots bubbled delightfully sending their moist steam into the air. Kirsten hung back by the door cradling a glass of merlot watching on as her Hispanic maid hurried round the kitchen opening draws, pulling out pans, cutting vegetables, and opening ovens. Sandy opened the front door, set his briefcase down in the hallway, and loosened his tie. He saw his wife watching the activity in the kitchen and slowly approached her.
"Rosie has been at it all day." Kirsten said as Sandy appeared before her right shoulder. She turned round to face her husband. "I wish you would let me cook. Just a little."
"You know what Seth said." Sandy replied sternly.
"Couldn't I cut the carrots?" Kirsten asked hopefully.
Sandy furrowed his brow. "But Seth loves carrots."
"I think you two are taking this a bit too seriously. It was supposed to be a little dinner to celebrate Ryan's first week at school, not the last supper." Kirsten said taking a sip of wine.
"Aww…honey." Sandy said hugging his wife. "Promise me you won't try to cook anything."
"All right, fine." Kirsten pouted. "Is it true that Seth invited Summer to dinner?"
Sandy's eyes lit up. "No. I spoke to Ryan and it turns out he invited her."
"Ryan likes Summer?" Kirsten asked surprised.
"No." Sandy stated frankly. "Ryan likes Marissa."
"Ryan likes Marissa?" Kirsten asked even more surprised.
"Yeah. Everyone knows that." Kirsten raised her eyebrows. "Well, okay. Seth told me."
"So, if Ryan likes Marissa why did he invite Summer?" Kirsten asked.
Sandy brushed his hand through his hair. "Because Seth likes Summer."
"Now, I knew that." Kirsten took another sip of wine. "So, Ryan likes Marissa and Seth likes Summer and Ryan invited Marissa and Summer?"
"Yeah, and the best part is that Seth doesn't know Ryan invited Summer." Sandy said with a smile.
"How's that the best part?" Kirsten asked.
"Because I love dinner and a show." Sandy replied.
Marissa sat on a chair in front of her make-up table as she pulled a comb through her recently straightened hair while she looked at her reflection in a mirror. Various combinations of clothes ran through her mind as she decided what to wear tonight. She couldn't decide if she should go for dead-drop gorgeous, seductively sexy, bohemianaly chic, or comfortably dressed-down. She didn't want to appear too formal. There is nothing worse than going to a dinner and being way more formal than everyone else. Going to a dinner and being way less formal was not nearly as bad since no matter the embarrassment you suffered you are still more comfortable than everyone else. She decided there was only one way to solve this dilemma.
"Hello Summer?" She said into her cell.
"Yeah." Summer replied.
Summer was sitting cross-legged on her bed with various combinations of outfits laid out before her. Her hair was tied up above her head but the occasionally strand of hair had worked itself loose and fell over her face.
"What are you wearing tonight?" Marissa asked.
Summer looked down at the clothes in front of her. "I don't know. You?"
Marissa glanced at her open closet in the reflection in the mirror. "That's why I'm calling you."
Summer picked up a small velvety black dress and screwed up her nose. "This isn't a formal thing, is it?"
"I don't think so." Marissa said unconvincingly. "It's just a little dinner. It's not like it's the last supper or anything."
"Yeah." Summer said weakly. "Yeah." She repeated with increased conviction. "This is, like, a small friendly get-together."
"Yeah." Marissa agreed.
"Nothing fancy." Summer continued
"Yeah." Marissa said,
Summer picked up a pair of jeans that had been lying on her bed. "They probably aren't expecting us to wear anything more than jeans and a t-shirt."
"Yeah." Marissa said.
There was a period of silence between the two friends.
"Bohemian chic?" Marissa asked.
"Yeah." Summer agreed quickly.
Summer grabbed an outfit from her bed and Marissa dived into her closet.
Seth entered the pool house wearing at pair of tan brown khaki trousers and yellow polo shirt with a large green stripe. He looked at Ryan who was wearing a pair of jeans, white tank top, and dark blue shirt.
"You wearing that?" Seth asked pointing at Ryan's clothes.
Ryan looked down at his clothes then back up at Seth. "Yeah."
"Okay." Seth said.
Inside the Cohen house Sandy snuck into the kitchen after he saw Rosie go to the bathroom. He scanned his surroundings and did a mental check. Kirsten was in the shower getting ready for dinner, Rosie was in the bathroom hopefully washing her hands, and the boys were in the pool house. Excellent, he thought to himself. He carefully raised one hand towards the cupboard above his hand. He checked around himself again. He slowly opened the cupboard door. He pushed aside various food items until he found what he was looking for, a big bag of sesame-seed bagels. His face lit up with joy. He quickly pulled the bag out of the cupboard, untied the knot, and grabbed a bagel. He was just about to put it in his mouth when he heard the sound of coughing behind him. He spun round to see his wife standing before him, her arms crossed, and her stern blue eyes fixed upon him.
"Hi, honey." He said lightly.
Kirsten's gaze did not soften. "Is that a bagel? A sesame bagel?"
"But…" Sandy managed before Kirsten cut him off.
"Dinner is in one hour. You couldn't have waited?" Kirsten asked.
"But I'm hungry now." Sandy pouted.
"Sandy!" Kirsten said strictly.
"All right, fine." Sandy said reluctantly placing the bagel back in the bag and the bag back on the shelf.
At that point Seth entered the kitchen from the garden followed closely by Ryan.
"I'm just saying that you might want to change it up a little." Seth said with a gesture of his hand.
Ryan looked down at his clothes. "But I like my clothes."
Kirsten turned to face the boys. Sandy took this opportunity to sneak a bagel out of the bag and into his pocket. He shut the cupboard door and also turned to face the boys.
Kirsten uncrossed her arms. "Are you ready for tonight, Seth?"
Seth looked a little bit confused. "Yeah." He looked at his mother, then his father. "It's a little dinner, right? Just the five of us?"
Kirsten looked at Sandy who looked back at his wife. They then both looked at Ryan who was looking at the ceiling. Seth saw all this and spun round to face Ryan.
"It's just the five of us, right?" He asked in an urgent tone.
Ryan did not respond.
A thought suddenly dawned on Seth. "Oh God, you didn't invite…"
He was interrupted by the doorbell.
"I'll get that." Kirsten and Sandy said in unison. They both hesitated before making their way out of the kitchen and to the front door.
Seth's eyes wildly fixed on Ryan. "Who did you invite?"
"Marissa." Ryan said calmly.
"Apart from Marissa." Seth said in a raised voice.
Ryan took a deep breath. "Well…"
But before he could finish a figure appeared in the doorway behind Seth. "Cohen." Summer stated.
Seth's eyes closed. He thought for a moment before turning round with a large fake grin on his face. "Summer, it's a pleasure." He quickly turned back to Ryan. "Ryan, can I talk to you for just a second?"
"But I have to…" Ryan protested.
"It'll only take a second." Seth said bundling Ryan out of the door and into the garden.
Marissa came into the kitchen. "Where's Seth?" She asked Summer.
"He left." She replied. "I have that effect on him."
Outside Seth had his head in his hands. "This is a disaster."
"It's not that bad." Ryan said.
Seth raised his hands and looked at Ryan. "You don't understand. Summer and I haven't said anything since the kiss."
"You haven't?" Ryan asked in surprise.
"I've been avoiding her." Seth explained.
"Why?" Ryan asked.
"What if she regretted it?" Seth asked quietly, almost to himself.
Ryan thought for a moment. "She's here, isn't she?"
Seth looked up at his friend. "What's your point?"
Ryan smiled. "I'm hungry. Let's eat." He walked inside the house.
"Seriously, dude, what's your point?" Seth asked his arms wide open. "Ryan? Ryan!"
Ryan entered the house to found Marissa lying out cutlery on the table and Summer standing beside her watching Seth through the window. Marissa moved from chair to chair carefully placing a fork, knife, and spoon on one side of a plate and a napkin on the other. Summer moved with her without taking her eyes off Seth. She didn't even turn her attention to Ryan as he approached the table. However Marissa did pay attention looking up from the table and smiling when seeing Ryan approach. The water-mouthing smell of finely-cooked lamb hung thick in the air. Ryan couldn't help but take a deep breath and fill his nose with the wonderful smell. He looked down at the neatly set out table, the white roses sitting comfortably beside spectacularly white china plates. If this was a small dinner celebration he wondered what a big holiday feast would look like. Ryan was brought out of his daydream by an impatient Summer who was still staring intently at Seth. "What's he doing?" She asked.
Ryan turned round to look out of the window. He saw Seth walking to and fro. He crossed the window disappeared out of view then returned a few seconds later only to walk across and disappear again. Seth was making wild gestures with his hands and appeared to be talking to himself. "I don't know." Ryan replied.
At that point Sandy, straightening his tie, and Kirsten, brushing a hand through her hair, entered the kitchen. "Right, kids." Sandy declared. "Let's eat."
"Ryan, go get Seth." Kirsten said opening the oven and pulling out a golden brown leg of lamb.
Ryan walked over to the door, opened it, and walked into the garden. "You okay, man?" He asked Seth cautiously.
Seth stopped pacing. "Yeah." He said calmly.
"We're about to eat." Ryan said.
Seth thought for a moment. "Okay."
The two boys re-entered the house. Marissa looked up at them in the middle of helping Sandy put the potatoes on the table while Summer looked down at her plate.
The food was quickly put on the table helped by Sandy's fanatic placing of food into bowls. Soon the meat was carved and placed on everyone's plate and they all sat down ready to eat. Sandy sat at the head of the table with the window behind him and back-lit by the dimming glows of the setting sun. Kirsten sat at the bottom of the table, Ryan to her left and Marissa to her right. Seth and Summer stand opposite each other at Sandy's end. Sandy reached forward for the potatoes but was stopped by Kirsten. "I think we should take a little moment to celebrate Ryan's achievement." She said warmly.
Sandy looked desperately at the potatoes almost in his grasp then at his wife and leant back in his chair. "Of course."
Ryan looked uncomfortably down at his plate.
"Ryan." Sandy said turning to Ryan. "You have completed a Cohen family tradition."
"The first of many." Seth chipped in.
"You've survived your first week of school." Sandy said raising his glass of merlot.
Kirsten put her hand on Ryan's arm and gave him a kind smile.
Sandy's eyes drifted from Ryan to the potatoes. "Enough talk. More eating." He said while leaning forward.
The dinner passed with pleasure conversation. The food was enjoyed by all. Sandy told stories of his time as a public defender and the crazily funny antics of his past clients. Kirsten explained, against Seth's vocal wishes, the various functions of the Newport Group and, after Summer's pleading, exactly how much money they made each year. The dinner, in fact, went very smoothly for all concerned. However, whenever Summer turned her attention to Seth he instantly looked away from her. Therefore she could not see that he had spent most of the meal helplessly staring at her. Ryan and Marissa continued their dance with both sneakily snatching glances at the other.
After the meal Sandy and Kirsten made their excuses and went to their bedroom. They knew that what the kids needed was time alone but they were also quite tired; working for living does that to people. Sandy and Kirsten left Ryan standing in the kitchen doing the dishes, Summer and Marissa sitting at the table talking, and Seth in the bathroom. Seth returned to find his parents had left. He went up to Ryan who was elbow-deep in skin-pleasing, lemon-fresh, soft white suds. "Hey, man. Where are Mom and Dad?"
Ryan scrubbed a particular tough stain on one of the dishes. "They went to sleep."
"I hope you're right" Seth quipped. He glanced at the girls sitting by the table.
"You know you're going to have to talk to her." Ryan said not looking up from the plate.
Seth glanced at the girls again. "Yeah, I know." He moved off in the direction of the table only to step back towards Ryan. "You know, we do have a dishwasher." Then he walked away before Ryan could response.
Seth cautiously approached the table and the two girls talking to each other sitting at it. Marissa noticed him approach and stopped in mid-sentence. Summer did not turn and look at who was standing before her. "Summer?" Seth asked nervously. "I think we need to talk.
Summer betrayed no emotion. She did not reaction at all.
Marissa shifted uncomfortably in her chair before pretending to hear something. "What's that, Ryan? You need some help."
Summer shot her friend a desperate look.
Ryan turned to face the table. "What?" Then he saw the look on Marissa's face. "Oh, yeah. Help. Thanks."
Marissa got up and made her way to Ryan. She picked up a tea towel and started to dry the plates that Ryan had already cleaned. However, she was really trying to overhead the conversation between Summer and Seth.
Summer watched her friend up and her head fell as she left. Seth not taking his eyes off Summer sat down in Marissa's recently departed seat.
"Summer." He said quietly.
Summer looked up. Her eyes were fiercely fixed on Seth. "So, you're finally paying attention to me." She said with anger.
"Look." Seth whispered. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for tonight and I'm sorry for avoiding you." He paused. He did not know what to say.
Summer waited for him to continue but he did not. "That's it?" She asked.
She started to get up. He put his hand on her arm. She sat back down. "It's just…" Seth explained. "Why did you kiss me?"
Summer was taken aback. "What?"
Seth fixed his eyes on hers. "Why did you kiss me?"
Summer looked at her feet. Her toes twitched. She hesitated.
Seth sighed deeply. "I knew it." He said quietly to himself. He sprang to his feet. He looked down at Summer who was still staring blankly at her feet. "That's why I avoided you. I didn't want it to be over."
He started to go. "Wait!" Summer blurted. Seth stopped. "Don't go." She whispered.
Marissa slowly dried the same plate. Her eyes fixed on the scene unfolding before her. Ryan looked over at her. "I think it's dry."
"Shh!" She hissed at Ryan.
Seth stood languidly in front of Summer. His arms hung wearily by his side. He forced his head up to look into her eyes. His face consumed by a frustrated frown, his eyes filled with hurt, his body wilted with exhaustion.
Summer's hand clung to Seth. Her body leant forward in her chair, her head bowed, her hair hiding her from the world, and from Cohen. Her eyes welled up with water. She lifted her head and looked Seth straight in the eye. "Don't go." She whispered again.
Seth's expression changed. His eyes betrayed a new determination. He grabbed Summer by the arm and lifted her onto her feet. She stared at him in confusion. He took a small step towards her. His hands moved up slowly up her arm. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. He brought his face down to hers. A tiny smile crept onto his face and she smiled back at him. Then he moved his face to hers, they closed their eyes, and kissed.
Marissa let out a cry of delight. The plate in her hand slipped from her grasp and crashed onto the floor smashing into a thousand pieces. The sudden crack of noise pierced the silence. Seth and Summer withdrew and stared at Marissa. She shifted her feet uncomfortably. Ryan picked his hands out of the watery foam and reached for a towel. He dried his hands, broke off a piece of kitchen towel, dropped to his knees, and began scooping up the broken shards of china. Marissa jumped to the ground almost knocking her head against Ryan's and the two quickly swept up the pieces.
Seth's hand found its way into Summer's. He shook his head in the direction of the stairs and she nodded back at him. "I think we'll go…"
Marissa popped up from the floor her face flushed red with embarrassment. "No, it's okay. We can…" She looked down at Ryan who was busy sweeping with his hand.
"No, no." Summer said quickly. "We can…"
"No, it's okay." Marissa interrupted.
"We need to talk anyway." Seth said beginning to move in the direction of the stairs.
"Yeah." Summer agreed inching along with him.
"You don't have to…" Marissa said leaving the sentence hanging in the air.
"No, it's fine. Really." Summer said reassuringly.
By now Seth and Summer had reached the edge of the kitchen. Ryan had finished sweeping up the bits of plate he could see and had raised to his feet. The four of them stood for a moment in silence before Seth and Summer made their exit.
After they were gone Ryan put the sheets of kitchen towel full of broken china into the bin and returned to the sink and the washing-up. Marissa stood next to the sink staring the direction of the stairs. "Well, I ruined that, didn't I?"
Ryan did not respond. He picked up a dirty plate from the side and dunked it in the water.
Marissa looked down at the foam in the sink. "You know, they do have a dishwasher."
Ryan turned to face her and gave her a sarcastic smile. "You know there is another way to washing plates?"
Marissa's eyes lit up. A smile paraded across her face. "Oh, really? What's that?"
"This." Ryan said grabbing a chunk of foam and throwing it at Marissa.
The foam landed on her face and hair. She jumped back in shock. Her hand reached up to her head and she let out a surprised laugh. "Oh, now you're going to get it." She said reaching down in the sink and picking up a handful of foam and rubbing it in Ryan's face.
After she finished rubbing he spat out the foam that had found its way into her mouth. He looked her foam covering his face and hair. She couldn't help but burst out laughing at the image he presented. "Oh, you think it's funny, do you?" He asked her.
She thought for a moment. "Yeah, I do."
""Well, see how you like this one. A man walks into a bar and…" Ryan shoved his hands into the sink picked up as much foam as he could and leaped at Marissa.
She instantly jumped backwards and started to run away. He followed her. She ran into the living room and suddenly spun round to face him. Unfortunately Ryan tripped just as he was about to stop himself and the two of them landed on a heap on the ground. With foam all over their face and hair, Ryan laid on top of Marissa on the floor of the Cohen's living room. Large smiles filled both their faces. Then the mood changed. A tension developed between the two. Ryan's heavy breathing popped some of the foam bubbles on Marissa's face. Then slowly but surely Ryan closed the gap between his face and hers. Her breathing became more rapid. Her chest heaved up against his. Her eyes drifted shut. Then they kissed. A million thoughts raced through her mind. Her hand reached up to the hand he had placed on her neck. Then suddenly she pulled away. Her eyes sprung opened. She stared at his expression of confusion. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "This is wrong."
Then she jumped up, fled out of the living room, out of the house, and into her car. Ryan lay dumbstruck on the floor. He stared after her unable to move. Then he sprung to his feet, raced out of the living room, out of the house, and into the driveway just to see her car drive into the night.